A city park as been able to put down stronger roots after being handed a £3.1m lottery grant.

Bute Park, which runs along the banks of the River Taff in Cardiff city centre, will also receive council funding which will take the total cost of the project to £5.6m.

And with work including a new horticultural training and education centre, as well as improved access, David Knowles of Cardiff council's culture, leisure and parks department is confident the future is blooming.

He said: 'We would not spend £3.1m purely on the horticultural side of the park, we want to ensure its future for the next 100 years.

'We want to improve the paths and the access, get new signs around the park, a centre for visitors and make more use of the medieval remains and the animal wall.

'The Heritage Lottery Fund has given us this money to improve Bute Park because they realise how important public parks are and how important it is at the centre of Cardiff's cultural life.'

The park has received a stage one pass from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which means the money has been set aside for when the detailed plans are completed.

The announcement of the grant was made by Cardiff council executive member Nigel Howells, Heritage Lottery Fund member Jo Coles and AM Alun Pugh in the park yesterday.

The garden in Bute Park, once part of Cardiff Castle before the fifth Marquees of Bute handed the park over to the people of the city in 1947, attracts more than one million visitors each year.

Cardiff council Leader Rodney Berman said: 'We are absolutely thrilled that the Heritage Lottery Fund has made this award to us for the restoration of Bute Park.

'The park plays a vital role in the lives of so many of our city's citizens and visitors and I am delighted that we can now protect it for future generations.'

Dan Clayton-Jones of the Heritage Lottery Fund Wales said: 'Bute Park is a very popular and important green space in the heart of Cardiff.

'The park project will complement the extensive restoration of Cardiff Castle and I hope that visitors will see the benefits from both projects.'